It may not have been in the fashion that Coach Ron Prince -- or any Wildcat fan, for that matter -- had envisioned, but the Kansas State Wildcats picked up their first win of the season Saturday night, defeating the San Jose State Spartans 34-14 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.

"I wouldn't, by any stretch, say that this was a pretty win," Prince said following the game, "from an offensive standpoint or a defensive standpoint."

The Wildcats' performance was not one with many shades of gray. In the areas the Wildcats played well, they truly excelled (individual offensive performances). Meanwhile, the areas in which the Wildcats struggled (penalties) proved to be a hindrance to several scoring opportunities.

Penalties were a huge thorn in the Wildcats' collective paw. K-State was penalized nine times for a total of 96 yards.

"I'm not used to having this many penalties in games," Prince said. "It's an ugly game. It's not something that's going to help us in any way. It's something that we're addressing."

On the flip side, three individual performances on the offensive side of the ball drew strong reviews from the head coach.

"I thought James Johnson, Jordy Nelson and Deon Murphy did a real nice job in the game," Prince said. "Each of them, in their own way, contributing in exactly the way we described during the week."